Trailer announced Barry Jenkinsdirector “Mufasa: The Lion King”whose credits include Oscar wins “Moonlight”. He himself noted that so far he has mainly made arthouse films. So how did he end up in a production costing hundreds of millions of dollars with lots of special effects?
Jenkins revealed that as a teenager he lived with his sister and her two sons. To keep his nephews occupied, he often played the original for them “The Lion King”. The director estimates that he has seen it about 200 times.
“When I got the script, I was fascinated by how complex the characters and their emotions were,” he continued. “The film will show how Mufasa became the heroic king we know.” He then introduced a short trailer showing Mufasa in his younger years. The material was not made available outside CinemaCon.
Young Mufasa will be voiced by Aaron Pierre, and young Scar will be voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr. Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner will reprise their roles as Timon and Pumbaa, and John Kani will reprise their roles as Rafiki.
The premiere of the film “Mufasa: The Lion King” is scheduled for December 20, 2024.